Hospital proposed at former casino site

Angela Soo

Tuesday, June 26, 2001 | 9:33 a.m.

A new hospital is planned for Craig Ranch Golf Course property in North Las Vegas, the site where neighbors successfully fought against construction of a Station Casinos hotel three months ago.

The Planning Commission on Wednesday will consider a special use permit for Universal Health Services of Delaware to build the hospital on the 39-acre site, at the northwest corner of Craig Road and Commerce Street.

The hospital would include 180 beds and open in 2004, if all goes well, Preston B. Howard, Universal Health Services' attorney, said.

The site had been slated for the hotel, while the hospital was planned at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Coralie Street, the original site approved for the casino.

The North Las Vegas City Council approved the casino zoning to effect the switch, but frustrated residents appealed to the state Gaming Policy Committee review panel, created as part of 1999 law limiting neighborhood casinos. The review panel overturned the City Council's decision.

Residents said Monday they agree there is a need for a new medical center.

North Las Vegas has one hospital for more than 120,000 people. The northern Las Vegas Valley definitely needs another hospital, Annete Kinsman, director of business development at Lake Mead Hospital, said.

"All the beds were filled in the winter months," Kinsman said. "We are also short of critical care beds, and you end up having beds in the hallways."

But need alone will not ensure neighbors' approval, some residents said. The building must be "aesthetically pleasing and conducive to the neighborhood," Deborah Lewis, a resident, said. "I'd hate to fight with a hospital just because it doesn't look nice."

Oscar loves forcing developers to sign labor peace agreements, Culinary loves the city's downtown plans and all is forgiven (1 Comment)

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